Saliva-ejector.



W. P. DE WITT;

SALIVA EJBGTOR.

APPLICATION FILED 11111.4, 1911.

1 ,012,613. Patented Dec. 26,1911.

715527265666. Iflvezzfir COLUMBIA Pumoamnm 120.. WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM 1?. DE WITT, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SALIVA-EJE-CTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

Application filed March 4, 1911. Serial N 0. 612,203.

TooZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. DE Win, a citizen of the United States, residing at 15 Day street, Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Saliva-Ejectors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to mouthpieces for saliva ejecting apparatus commonly employed by dentists'for removing saliva from the mouth of a patient. Heretofore mouth-pieces for such apparatus have usually comprised a suction tube bent into the form of a hook, the longer arm or shank of which is adapted to be connected to the suction device, while the shorter arm, which is inserted in the patients mouth, is provided with one or more openings through which the saliva is drawn. These devices are objectionable in that the tissues of the mouth are apt to be drawn so strongly by the suction against or into the inlet openings, and more especially when the mouth has been practically freed of saliva, that the openings become tightly closed and the device is rendered inoperative. As a result saliva accumulates in the mouth of the patient, not only causing physical discomfort to the latter but often interferring seriously with the dent-a1 operation. Furthermore, the tissues may be held so firmly by the suction that they will be irritated and sometimes torn and caused to bleed, particularly when it is attempted to remove the m outh-piece or to readjust it for the purpose of rendering the apparatus again operative.

The object of the present invention is to improve these prior devices and to produce a mouth-piece through which the saliva may be removed from the mouth in an effective and expeditious manner but without danger of drawing the tissues so forcibly against the inlet openings as to close them or to cause discomfort to the patient or injury to the tissues.

With this object in view the present invention consists of the mouth-piece hereinafter described and more particularly defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate what is now considered the preferred form of the present invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved mouth-piece; Fig. 2 is a front view with a portion of the inner end, i. e. that which enters the mouth of the patient, broken away to show the internal construction thereof; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a cross section on line 44, Fig. 3.

As shown in the drawings, the device comprises a suction tube 1 having provision on its lower or outer end 2 for connection to the suction device, and an air tube 3 having its outer end 4 open to permit the free ingress of air. The suction tube and the air tube 8 are bent, as shown in Fig. 1, into the form of a hook which is adapted to be hung over the teeth of the lower jaw" form the suction and the air tubes, and two saliva inlet openings are provided which are substantially in line with the axes of the inner ends of these tubes. Such an arrange ment of openings facilitates the insertion of a wire or other device for the purpose of cleaning or clearing the interior of the tubes, as well as of the connecting portion 5.

The operation of my improved mouthpiece is as follows :C0nnection having been made to the suction device, the mouth-piece is placed in the patients mouth, and saliva is drawn through the openings 6 and up through the suction tube 1 in the usual manner. So long as there is suflicient saliva in the mouth of the patient to seal the inner end of the air tube 3, the device will continue to operate as above described. As soon, however, as the level of the saliva falls sufficiently low to uncover the end of the air tube, the latter will supply air freely, and the suction at the inlet openings will practically cease so that the apparatus will be rendered incapable of sucking or drawing the soft tissues of the mouth against or into the openings. Even after the seal at the inner end of the air tube has been once broken, the device will continue to draw away the saliva, although probably at a somewhat reduced rate, the air in its passage from one tube to the other picking up and carrying along saliva which has flowed the suction at the openings will stop so that no discomfort to the patient or injury' to the tissues will result, even when the mouthpiece is removed or altered in position.

Having thus described the present invention, what I claim is 1. A mouth piece for saliva ejecting apparatus comprising a suction tube provided with a saliva intake openlng and an air supply tube having its air intake opening 10- cated beyond the normal level of the saliva in the mouth of the user, and communicating with the intake end of the suction tube for supplying air freely to the suction tube,

I substantially as described' 2. A mouth piece for saliva ejecting apparatus consist-ing of an integral tubular structure comprising a suction tube and an air tube having its intake opening located 3. A mouth-piece for saliva ejecting ap- V paratus comprising a suction tube and an air supplying tube having their inner ends adjacent to one another, and a connection between said tubes provided with intake openings in line with the axes of the inner ends of said tubes, substantially as described.

4. A mouth-piece for saliva ejecting ap paratus comprising an integral tube bent backward upon itself at a point intermediate its ends to form a suction tube and an air tube, and having an opening at the point of bending, substantially as described.

WILLIAM VP. DE wrrT.

Witnesses ALFRED H. HILDRETH, GEORGE E. STEBBINs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

